Deb wrote a post last week called, Top 10 Things Freelance Writing Blogs Tell You That You Already Know. Not that this was news to me. In fact Deb and I were discussing this on Skype recently and it pops up with other freelance writer pals too. Deb’s post got me thinking. IS there anything I can say that you don’t already honestly know about when it comes to professional blogging? It does seem like bloggers who blog about blogging re-hash the same old stuff over and over. Although, just to play devil’s advocate… There are plenty of posts here [Read more…]
Will re-posting breaking news benefit you and your readers
May 29, 2010. Leave a Comment
As previously noted, it’s practically impossible to break actual breaking news at a blog. Still, if you can find breaking news, and it fits your blog topic, you can still post it. You’ll just need a slant that makes it your own. Before you slant with your own lovely style though you should consider if it’s worth slanting at all. Should you waste time slanting? Slanting, in the most general of descriptions means making the news your own. Giving your own opinion on it. Hopefully an opinion that will make the news interesting to your community EVEN though they may [Read more…]
Managing Full Time Blogging & Kids ALL Summer Long
May 21, 2010. 7 Comments
Deb just posted some excellent summer options for work-at-home parents and they’re handy but I have a few more suggestions along with some helpful tips. Summer, for me is a little like 3 months worth of chaos. Not only does my son’s free school shut down, but my partner’s kiddos are at the house more. Three kids + FT paid blogging + FT self-run projects = insanity on my part. It’s like a much longer winter break; ugh. First read managing work in a chaotic household for some general help then keep reading below for some summer specific tips. Summer [Read more…]
Informal poll o' the day – which WordPress theme are you using?
May 19, 2010. 5 Comments
So, which WordPress theme do you use? It’s on my mind because today I saw that Chris Garrett, who I’m a pretty big fan of, recently changed his WordPress theme from Thesis to Headway. As noted in Chris’ post about said change he expected this to shock some people, and shock me it did. Chris has been touting the Thesis WordPress theme for a while, and while it was a long time ago, so I can’t say with 100% certainty, I’m pretty sure it was partially his first posts about Thesis that inspired me to use Thesis at my own [Read more…]
How a mediocre blogger can get more links than an amazing blogger
May 13, 2010. 10 Comments
I don’t think you should aim to be a mediocre blogger. Always aim to write top content and do your best. However, it’s not your kick ass writing skills that are going to get you links. Fact – when I started blogging professionally – and by professionally I mean paid – I was a lot more careful. I wrote and re-wrote posts, gave it my all and really tried to put super killer content out there on the web. AND I pretty much got zero links back to my carefully written, time consuming posts. Fact – now I’ve been blogging [Read more…]
1,000 word blog posts and being yourself
May 12, 2010. 8 Comments
I’ve been breaking writing rules my entire freelance career. Sadly, I don’t always break rules on purpose – often I just make mistakes. Luckily, for me, the rules I’ve broken haven’t hurt me much. When I stared out freelancing FT I broke way too many rules… I never pitched to small local magazines in an effort to work my way up. I sent queries to all the big name magazines I liked. I’d send the same query to multiple magazines too, thinking, most will reject me anyhow. I didn’t have any magazine clips for my queries so I’d send business [Read more…]
Some misused words are inexcusable
May 8, 2010. 12 Comments
Just a quick FYI folks. When bouncing around the web this morning I saw plenty of misspelled and misused words. I’m the first to admit that my spelling lacks perfection (spelling trauma as a kid in school) however, there are some 100% inexcusable misused word issues that should not be showing up in your posts. Such as… “Your too good for this.” – Nope, it’s “You’re.” “Its good for all sorts of stuff!” – This should be “It’s.” It’s vs. Its can be confusing I know, but this is so simple that it just looks bad. Think of “It’s” as [Read more…]
Do you post breaking news at your blog?
May 3, 2010. 7 Comments
First off if you missed it be sure to check out Deb’s post on luck vs. work – it’s excellent and one of the better posts I’ve read in a while. Now, on the topic of breaking news at a blog… I’m bringing it up because recently one of my clients has been asking all the writers on staff to break more news. This isn’t a new deal; many clients want what they call, “breaking news” posted at their blog because they think it will be a good traffic draw which is true in some cases but not all (more [Read more…]
Feed Your Blogging Addiction with Highly Addictive Links
April 23, 2010. 11 Comments
Bloggers get addicted to all sorts of crazy (and not so crazy) things – coffee, surfing, Twitter and more. With this in mind, here are some super addictive blogging issues to ponder this week. Feast or Famine – how many times do you use this phrase as a writer. At least once a week? Twice a week? More? It’s true this phrase is highly addictive to writers, mainly because it’s true. However, our own Lorna Doone Brewer thinks it’s time we gave this addiction a great big shove off. Su.pr – Oh my gosh I am so utterly addicted to [Read more…]
Increase blog traffic with email strategies
April 19, 2010. 11 Comments
There are all sorts of little ways that email can increase blog traffic for you or for a client you blog for. Following are five good ideas. Email a new reader; or two or three or twenty! Darren notes that emailing new readers was one of the main strategies he used to build up ProBlogger traffic back in the day, and if it’s good enough for that well… why not give it a shot. Note – some emails to new readers can be annoying. Try to keep track of who you send emails to so that you don’t send off [Read more…]
How to be a professional blogger
April 14, 2010. 8 Comments
The other day I posted about Google CEO Eric Schmidt not seeming to be all that on board with bloggers. Some agreed, some thought he needed to read some WordPress blogs (not just Blogger), some felt he was just being pro editor and not dissing bloggers in general. That’s all good but if you are a blogger you should be aware that you can expand your professional appearance as a blogger without having to resort to saying stuff like, “I’m really a writer; not a blogger.” Bloggers, in my opinion, can be completely professional. There’s a ton of stuff you [Read more…]
Google CEO Eric Schmidt not on board with bloggers
April 12, 2010. 13 Comments
So, last night Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave a nice little speech at the American Society of News Editors conference in DC, and apparently doesn’t find bloggers to be all that trustworthy. Maybe he was just trying to fit in with the print heavy crowd, maybe he only reads poorly written blogs or maybe he just really doesn’t like bloggers – who knows. However he did note… “We’re not in the news business, and I’m not here to tell you how to run a newspaper. We are computer scientists. And trust me, if we were in charge of the news, [Read more…]
Top Time Wasting Activities for Bloggers & How To Stop
April 9, 2010. 10 Comments
Below are some of the biggest time wasting activities for me and some other bloggers I know. Surfing: Nothing is more fun than surfing for new post ideas and it’s easy to go overboard. When it comes to surfing or researching blog topics set strict limits in order to stay on task and on time. Skype: I LOVE Skype. I love that I can use it to chat with friends and co-workers. I love the break it provides. I love that I can hop on at anytime and find someone to hear me out when I have good news or [Read more…]
Helpful Reminder – Using Blog Images for Increased Traffic
April 5, 2010. 1 Comment
On Sundays I tend to go over stats for all my blogs – both my own and my client’s blogs too to see how traffic is looking. I’m currently writing for around 9 or so blogs and while they’re all about different topics (or have different slants) all but two of these blogs have one traffic perk in common – images – meaning, an insane bulk of page views at the places I write comes directly from image searches. With this in mind I thought it would be a good time to remind you to use images wisely. It’s not [Read more…]
Not getting enough traffic? Key questions that can help
April 2, 2010. 1 Comment
If you’re writing a blog for a client (or writing for a blog you own) you’ll be more likely to get return traffic if you focus on writing posts that get across what the specific blog is trying to sell. By sell, I don’t mean products, although that may be one goal. Before you start typing away consider the following… What information, products or services does your blog offer? Is there any sort of benefit for readers who might come across your information, product or services and can they expect that benefit each time they visit? What’s the unique slant [Read more…]
What motivates you as a blogger for others?
March 30, 2010. Leave a Comment
Last week we looked at whether or not performance-based pay-scales are fair (or worth your time). I was going to come right back and list some actual studies about this, but it’s been one of those drama, drama, drama weeks around here (blah). But today, I’ve got some research. However, first a recap. I’m not on board with strictly performance-based pay. It’s far too variable and a little shoddy in my opinion being that it’s so hard to correctly and fairly prove performance. Most of our reader who commented on this post were also not on board with pay for [Read more…]
Are Performance-Based Pay-Scales Fair?
March 23, 2010. 13 Comments
Actually the question is not so much are they fair, but do you want to sign on with a client who is big on performance based pay. Here are some basic performance pay scales I’ve seen clients launch for their writers… Base pay + traffic perks: For example, you make $250 flat base per month for a set number of posts plus $2 per every 1000 page views. Base pay + bonus perks: For example, you make $500 flat base per month for a set number of posts plus if you write the number one post (traffic wise) for your [Read more…]
How to score blogging gigs in one easy step
March 19, 2010. 2 Comments
APPLY FOR BLOGGING GIGS! That’s it. I know, it’s simple and sounds too good to be true, but when you get right down to it, applying for gigs is the number one best way to get gigs. I only bring this up because I see folks all the time at forums, in writers chats, and on Twitter who note they’re looking for work over and over. I get email questions like, “How do I get work as a blogger?” Not to sound over simplistic, but honestly you might want to try applying for gigs. Heck apply for MANY gigs. In [Read more…]
Try not to suck as much as Chris Garrett
March 18, 2010. 1 Comment
Actually I don’t think Chris Garrett sucks. In fact, I was just telling Deb today that while I browse other blogs about blogging daily, his is the one I usually stop at and read. That said, Chris has an excellent post up – Why I Sucked at SXSW So You Don’t Have to (ha). Now, maybe he did suck there, or maybe not (I’m guessing not) but this is an excellent post to read if you ever attend writing events or conferences; plus you can see a cute picture of Deb in said post Also I was struck by how [Read more…]
Are Blogging Jobs Over?
March 11, 2010. 5 Comments
I wouldn’t say blogging jobs are over exactly. I mean, that would be dumb considering I blog for a living. Many of my friends blog for a living. Deb posts blogging gigs daily over in writing leads. So no, blogging jobs aren’t over. I do however think that how you use your blogging skills to make money is changing big time. You can’t just be a blogger anymore and expect to make a living. “Just a blogger” is not meant to be disrespectful either, all I mean is when you’re just blogging for clients you’re writing posts, getting paid, and [Read more…]
